Spiders, Herbs, & Kitchen Tools...Oh My!

I like to think of myself as a nurturer in each sense of the word...feed, protect, support, encourage, etc. and I'm pretty good at it when it comes to humans and animals.  Horticulturally, though, I'm a distaster!  I can kill bamboo, that's how brown my thumbs are.  Honestly, I was once buying plants to bring home and put in my garden when one of them took a nosedive out of the cart.  I guess it wanted to get it over with quickly rather than experiencing a slow, agonizing death at my hands!  This is why I've found it so surprising that I'm having great luck growing herbs in my backyard.  I've tried growing them in a pot with no luck at all.  Okay, that's my fault because I forget to water them.  But planting them in the ground has really been successful because of the beautiful Florida sunshine and the steady summer rain.  Therefore, I've become a bit protective, perhaps even nurturing, of my little herb garden.

This is why I may have gone a bit "buggy" this evening when I went out to check on the beautiful plants which are adding wonderful, fresh flavors to my kitchen.  We've been having trouble with banana spiders making themselves at home around the perimeters of our house, especially on my Fennel and Rosemary plants.  While they're generally non-aggressive, I've been bitten more than once while snipping fresh herbs to add to a recipe.  Tonight, though, I'd had enough!  I'd read that the best way to get rid of them is to tear down their webs.  I did that a week ago and they're back.  I knew I needed a kicked-up arsenal and my mind went straight to my kitchen torch.  You know, that propane-based little flame thrower that one uses to brulee things.  Well, call Andrew Zimmern from the Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods" because I have some "bruleed" spiders he can munch on! 

Wait!  Before you call the ASPCA, please note that the above-mentioned Fennel plant was recently a haven for caterpillars and we painstakingly saved each one of them to donate to a local nursery's butterfly garden.  We discovered that squirrels enjoy caterpillars like Twinkies...cream-filled centers and all.  Ugh!

On the menu tonight:  Greek Salad with Mediterranean Grilled Chicken.  Keeping it light tonight because Mom's coming for dinner tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

Cheers!